Nebraska takes down Penn State 8-2 in game one

The Nebraska baseball team (16-6) broke through late to take down Penn State (8-14) in the first game of the series 8-2. The Huskers broke a 2-2 deadlock in the eighth inning with a five-run rally.

Cade Povich was on the mound to start this game, and he was able to shut out the Nittany Lions for the first five innings. In those opening five innings, Povich gave up four hits and those were the only four batters who got on base. The junior also struck out one batter in each of the five innings, bringing his tally to five after five innings.

While the defense was keeping the shutout, the offense hadn’t quite heated up yet. In the second inning, NU bats were able to put together three hits and drive in one run, but other than that, the Big Red weren’t able to score. Jaxon Hallmark hit a leadoff triple in the third inning, but he wasn’t driven in. Nebraska hit singles in both the top of the fifth and sixth innings, but those runners weren’t driven in either.

In the bottom of the sixth, while the Huskers held a slim 1-0 lead, PSU was able to string together three hits to load the bases. A double then scored two runners and gave Penn State the lead, and that was the end of Cade Povich’s outing. In to pitch was Cam Wynne, who got the final out of the inning and kept the Nittany Lion lead to just one run.

In the following inning, NU worked two walks and Joe Acker hit a single to load the bases. After this, the Big Red were gifted a run with another walk and that run tied the game. With the bases loaded and still no outs in the top of the seventh inning, Nebraska was unable to capitalize and take the lead.

Although they couldn’t take the lead in the seventh, the Huskers put together three hits in the eighth inning that drove in one run to take the lead. Another walk with the bases loaded doubled the lead, and then Cam Chick hit a single to score two more runners and make the lead four runs. To round out the inning, another batter was walked in and NU extended the lead to five.

The defense continued to do their job, and Jake Bunz was on the mound during the seventh and eighth innings. The junior gave up two hits, but allowed no runs, and after the Big Red scored one more in the top of the ninth, Braxton Bragg came in to close the game. The sophomore struck out one and retired the side allowing no hits and securing the win for Nebraska. The Huskers have now won 11 of their past 13 games.

In the first six innings, NU was not hitting well compared to the way they have in past outings. However, the Big Red were able to wear down the PSU bullpen enough to take advantage in the eighth inning. After scoring two scrappy runs and keeping the game tied, Nebraska forced mistakes out of the Penn State pitchers. On top of that, a handful of hits in the eighth allowed them to score five runs and just about put the game to bed. While they didn’t make the win look pretty, each win counts the same in their record, so the team won’t mind.

While the Nittany Lion bullpen struggled, the Husker bullpen did the opposite. Cam Wynne was thrust into a tough position after NU gave up two runs. The junior faced a batter with two outs and a runner in scoring position, and he struck him out. Jake Bunz was next to the mound and in his two innings, he only gave up two hits while striking out three batters. Bunz gave up no runs, and neither did Braxton Bragg who was the final pitcher of the night. The sophomore closed the game with no baserunners allowed and clinched the win for the Big Red. When the Nebraska pen out-pitches their opponent, they are going to win a lot of games, and this was a testament to that.

The Huskers will play game two of the three-game series tomorrow, starting at noon. The final game of the series is on Sunday, scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m.

Both games can be streamed on BTN+ and heard on Husker Sports Network.